Thursday, February 16, 2006

David Neiwert over at Orcinus has two posts up in succession, one of which covers the Republican refrain, ever since they owned the government - while the other chronicles the rise of Backyard Nazis:

It's hard to say what they were trying to accomplish. Fremont is one of the real arts centers of Seattle, and its politics are well to the left -- as the Lenin statue suggests. It's not likely they were looking for (at least hoping for) recruits. More likely is that they hoped to start some kind of confrontation. Evidently, they went away disappointed.

It seems to me that what these rallies are about is shoving their presence in our faces. For the past several decades, Nazis and white supremacists have been shoved so far back to the fringes that they scarcely ever would show their faces.

Now, they're feeling that the tide is turning in their favor. They're showing up in notably liberal venues not to recruit, but to make their presence known, and to send a message that they don't intend to hide anymore.

I can't help but think that these stories are, you know, related. The Republicans embrace extremism, give right-wing eliminationists radio and TV time, pump their hate into our military bases, confer legitimacy upon them.

That they're crawling out of their holes into the light is the responsibility of the Republicans as well.

Ann Coulter: Liberals should all be beaten with baseball bats and thrown into concentration camps. I hear they make good soap.

Not exactly equivalent there, Mr. Anonymous Apologist.

Why don't you stop talking about defending freedom and do something about it, Mr. Anonymous? Because with the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments gone, with ex post facto gone, with a President who claims the right to imprision or kill American citizens without a trial or warrant or due process of law, there aren't all that many freedoms to defend.

And what, precisely, gives you the opinion I care what Democrats do? I care what the people running the country do.